The following discussion is not to be construed as an admission with regard to the common general knowledge in Australia.
Synthetic membranes are used for a variety of applications including desalination, gas separation, filtration, and dialysis. The properties of the membranes vary depending on the morphology of the membrane i.e. properties such as symmetry, pore shape and pore size and the polymeric material used to form the membrane.
Different membranes can be used for specific separation processes, including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis. Microfiltration and ultrafiltration are pressure driven processes and are distinguished by the size of the particle or molecule that the membrane is capable of retaining or passing. Microfiltration can remove very fine colloidal particles in the micrometer and submicrometer range. As a general rule, microfiltration can filter particles down to 0.1 μm, whereas ultrafiltration can retain particles as small as 0.01 μm and smaller. Reverse Osmosis operates on an even smaller scale.
As the size of the particles to be separated decreases, the pore size of the membrane decreases and the pressure required to carry out the separation increases.
A large surface area is needed when a large filtrate flow is required. One known technique to make filtration apparatus more compact is to form a membrane in the shape of a hollow porous fiber. Modules of such fibers can be made with an extremely large surface area per unit volume.
Microporous synthetic membranes are particularly suitable for use in hollow fibers and are produced by phase inversion. In this process, at least one polymer is dissolved in an appropriate solvent and a suitable viscosity of the solution is achieved. The polymer solution can be cast as a film or hollow fiber, and then immersed in precipitation bath such as water. This causes separation of the homogeneous polymer solution into a solid polymer and liquid solvent phase. The precipitated polymer forms a porous structure containing a network of uniform pores. Production parameters that affect the membrane structure and properties include the polymer concentration, the precipitation media and temperature and the amount of solvent and non-solvent in the polymer solution. These factors can be varied to produce microporous membranes with a large range of pore sizes (from less than 0.1 to 20 μm), and altering chemical, thermal and mechanical properties.
Microporous phase inversion membranes are particularly well suited to the application of removal of viruses and bacteria. Of all types of membranes, the hollow fiber contains the largest membrane area per unit volume.
Flat sheet membranes are prepared by bringing a polymer solution consisting of at least one polymer and solvent into contact with a coagulation bath. The solvent diffuses outwards into the coagulation bath and the precipitating solution will diffuse into the cast film. After a given period of time, the exchange of the non-solvent and solvent has proceeded such that the solution becomes thermodynamically unstable and demixing occurs. Finally, a flat sheet is obtained with an asymmetric or symmetric structure.
Hydrophobic surfaces are defined as “water hating” and hydrophilic surfaces as “water loving”. Many of the polymers that porous membranes are made of are hydrophobic polymers. Water can be forced through a hydrophobic membrane by use of sufficient pressure, but the pressure needed is very high (150–300 psi), and a membrane may be damaged at such pressures and generally does not become wetted evenly.
Hydrophobic microporous membranes are characterized by their excellent chemical resistance, biocompatibility, low swelling and good separation performance. Thus, when used in water filtration applications, hydrophobic membranes need to be hydrophilized or “wet out” to allow water permeation. Some hydrophilic materials are not suitable for microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes that require mechanical strength and thermal stability since water molecules can play the role of plasticizers.
Currently, poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) are the most popular and available hydrophobic membrane materials. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a semi-crystalline polymer containing a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase. The crystalline phase provides good thermal stability whilst the amorphous phase adds some flexibility to the membrane. PVDF exhibits a number of desirable characteristics for membrane applications, including thermal resistance, reasonable chemical resistance (to a range of corrosive chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite), and weather (UV) resistance.
While PVDF has to date proven to be the most desirable material from a range of materials suitable for microporous membranes, the search continues for membrane materials which will provide better chemical stability and performance while retaining the desired physical properties required to allow the membranes to be formed and worked in an appropriate manner.
In particular, a membrane is required which has a superior resistance (compared to PVDF) to more aggressive chemical species, in particular, oxidizing agents such as sodium hypochlorite and to conditions of high pH i.e. resistance to caustic solutions.